Singapore may be one of the world's wealthiest and "smartest" countries, but there's one thing it has never had, until now - an official opposition party. "The results have surpassed the expectations even of some in the opposition," Loke Hoe Yeong, author of First Wave, a book on the history of the Singapore opposition, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.The election was widely seen as a referendum on the government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.This time round, the main issues in the election were the government's handling of the pandemic and the looming economic recession.For the election process, this meant the 2.65 million voters had to sanitise their hands and wear disposable gloves before receiving their ballot paper and proceeding to vote.The PAP's two-thirds majority gives him a virtually free hand in passing key bills, although the party leadership is expected to start some soul-searching with the diminished popular support.The PAP, in power since 1965, won 83 of 93 parliamentary seats or 61.2% of the vote - down from nearly 70% it had in the 2015 poll.The PAP victory now brings current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yet another term in office.As large-scale gatherings and events are deemed a high risk during the pandemic, only a few countries have gone ahead with national elections during the past months.Social distancing rules remain in place and wearing face masks is compulsory in public.These are external links and will open in a new windowMeanwhile, supporters of the the Workers' Party have been celebrating on the streets, with honking horns and waving party flags.In terms of per capita cases, Singapore now ranks among the world's worst affected countries although the death rate is low and almost all cases originate from within the foreign worker community living in dormitories.Mobile polling teams took ballot boxes to citizens who had recently returned from overseas and were in hotel quarantine.The small city state is one of only a handful of countries to have held a vote during the pandemic.Strict safety measures were put in place, with voters wearing gloves and masks and given timed voting slots.Singapore had initially been praised for keeping the virus in check until clusters in its migrant population dramatically drove up infection numbers.Millions face new lockdown rules prohibiting separate households from meeting each other at their homes.After weeks of strict lockdown, measures have been gradually eased since June and there's only been a small uptick in infections among the local population.Singapore has been one of the worst hit countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with more than 45,000 cases. Le plus petit mandat jamais accordé au parti au pouvoir a été une victoire à 60% en 2011, et l’opposition n’a remporté que six sièges lors des dernières élections, en 2015.Et plusieurs des courses parlementaires se sont révélées étonnamment compétitives, le Parti des travailleurs de l’opposition ayant remporté 10 sièges, selon les résultats.Mais si les élections devaient montrer la main ferme d’un parti qui a utilisé les plus grandes forces de Singapour – des coffres profonds, un professionnalisme technocratique et une croyance en la science et la technologie – pour combattre une pandémie, ils ont également mis en évidence les divisions dans une société qui, comme beaucoup d’autres dans le monde développé, est aux prises avec un paysage géopolitique en mutation.« Ce que cela a révélé », a-t-il ajouté, « n’est pas seulement une injustice systémique pour les travailleurs étrangers, mais aussi quelque chose qui tache le placage singapourien de la modernité technocratique et d’une gouvernance supérieure. Workers’ Party supporters celebrate a positive return in an early sample count of votes during the general election on July 11, 2020 in Singapore. »Contrairement à d’autres expatriés qui peuvent éventuellement prétendre à la résidence permanente, ces migrants, qui sont pour la plupart originaires d’Asie du Sud et de Chine, travaillent à Singapour en sachant qu’ils sont des membres temporaires de la société.Le vainqueur des élections n’a jamais été mis en doute non plus, même si le vote a été prolongé de deux heures pour accueillir les longues files d’électeurs.L’ancien M. Lee a dirigé l’indépendance de la cité à dominante ethnique chinoise en 1965, après sa rupture avec le nouveau pays, la Malaisie.